How to Build Your Email List With a Free Gift

The four letter f-word, free, holds a lot of power over us. More than we realize.

This word alone induces such an emotional charge that we act fast when we see it.

How many times have you given in to get something for free? The sheer mention of free is enticing!

Building your email list is a crucial way to grow your yoga business. After all, your email list is your lifeline to your tribe and your future clients.

One sure-fire way to grow that list is with a free gift aka a lead magnet. (I’ll use the two interchangeably throughout this article).

In this article, I’ll share everything you need to know about using lead magnets as a yoga teacher 🙂

Let’s dive right in!

What are Lead Magnets (free gifts)?

A lead magnet is something valuable that you offer for free in exchange for their email address.

The goal of your lead magnet is to capture email addresses. Instead of just asking “hey join my list,” instead you sweeten the deal by giving away something useful. 🙂

Make it something of major value to your niche; so valuable they can’t even believe it’s free.

First impressions matter. You want to leave them thinking, “wow if this is free, I can’t imagine how good the paid stuff will be!”

If your lead magnet is something your audience truly wants, they will go through the “hassle” of leaving you their email address because they are so psyched to receive your free gift.

As an example, here is one of our free gifts. You can click it and signup 😉

How to Choose a Lead Magnet that Converts

Your lead magnet qualifies your readers to make sure they are a good prospect for your paid product/services. By giving away something awesome you start building trust right away with your news subscribers.

You want your new subscribers to gain useful knowledge, take action, or experience that “aha” moment.

Step One:Consider your niche. By now, you know their ultimate pain points and what they struggle with on a daily basis. What would they place high value on having? Allow this information to guide how you create a free gift that earns you email addresses.

Step Two: Work backwards from your products and services. For example: If your main product is a program about using Ayurveda for improved health, then your lead magnet should relate directly, such as: 5 Ways Ayurveda Can Improve Your Health.

Step Three: Go for the gold. Don’t settle on mediocre. Take time to think of a super awesome free gift. Don’t spend 6 months creating your free gift, but make sure it’s very useful.

Below I’ll share some ideas for your own lead magnet.

Design Your Lead Magnet!

Designing your lead magnet doesn’t have to be this massive, annoying task. Using free design tools like Canva can assist you in making it look and feel amazing! If your free gift is a document, be sure you convert it into a PDF.

Also, your freebie doesn’t have to fit on just one page. If you have more content to deliver, it’s completely okay making it multiple pages. Keeping it easily scannable is more important. Avoid added fluff just to be fluffy. 🙂

Be sure your lead magnet does all of the following:

Connects. Provide value to connect and build trust with your reader.

Solves Their Problem. Remember your free gift is alleviating a pain point of your niche.

Call to Action. What they should do next. They will remember who helped them take action.

If you have even a small budget, hire someone to design it for you. You can outsource this work on sites like eLance or Fiverr. This will help your lead magnet look even more appealing and make a lasting impression.

Pro-Tip: Have more than one idea? Great, then you should create more than one lead magnet. However, be sure your first lead magnet is successful before attempting a second.

How to Use Your Lead Magnet (for success!)

Make it front and center. You want your free gift to be accessible and easy to see. If no one sees it, how will they get their free gift and sign up for your email list?

Talk about your free gift. If you’re a teacher who has a presence in your yoga community, start talking about your offering! You can do this before or after your class (don’t forget to bring a sign up sheet!) or at any other yoga events you lead or co-lead.

Add it to all relevant articles. If your lead magnet is loosely related to something you expand upon on your blog, add it to that piece. Add it to multiple articles for more exposure and relevance.

Protip: Be sure to automate the delivery of your free gift. Inside your email server provider (Mailchimp, Drip, etc) you can automatically send out your free gift to any new subscribers 🙂

Examples of Lead Magnets You Can Use Today

Step-by-Step Guide

Top “10” List

eBook

Webinar

Video series

Audio/Video Recording of a yoga class

Whitepaper

Let’s wrap up!

There you have it! Using a valuable lead magnet will help grow your email list (and ultimately, your yoga business). I know it sounds intimidating to start, but it’s not too tough and it will really help you business 🙂

If you feel stuck anywhere in this process, please let me know! Happy to help in any way I can.

About the Author

Anne is a passionate yogi who loves to be active outdoors. When she’s not traveling to destinations near the equator to practice yoga and eat tropical fruit, you can find her in the kitchen cooking up nourishing meals with her partner, Brandon. A music junkie at heart, she is currently spinning: Tor, Hiatus, Friend. and Giyo.